A two-spot octopus, like the kind an Oklahoma household introduced house as a pet.

Angelina Komatovich

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Angelina Komatovich

A two-spot octopus, like the kind an Oklahoma household introduced house as a pet.

Angelina Komatovich

It’s not all that uncommon to see octopus on a restaurant menu. But an octopus as a household pet?

Cameron Clifford of Edmond, Okla. says his nine-year-old son Cal is a large fan of the eight-legged creatures.

“One of the funny things, the misconceptions I think that people assume, is that this was kind of like a flavor of the week for my son, you know, and we’re kind of just these parents that will placate him with any material thing,” Clifford advised NPR. “But he’s a real bright kid and he has absolutely loved octopuses since he was, like, two years old.”

So Clifford determined to analyze, and discovered that it was potential to order an octopus from the native aquarium retailer.

When Cal got here house from faculty to seek out all the gear it will take to deal with a pet octopus, he was utterly overcome. Clifford filmed the response and posted it to TikTok, beginning a journey the household would proceed to doc.

After days of calibrating the water in an unlimited tank to make sure it might help a cephalopod, the two-spot octopus they named Terrance arrived.

Angelina Komatovich is a marine biologist at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif., who has taken care of octopuses professionally.

“When I first heard of Terrance the octopus, I was actually very surprised to find out that there was a two-spot octopus living all the way across the country in Oklahoma,” she advised NPR. “But in that aquarium, they had everything that they needed. They had the cold water. They had a nice sized aquarium for this octopus to live in. But it was really cool to see that this octopus was sourced from a reputable place and being very well taken care of.”

Though the Clifford household was as ready as potential to welcome Terrance, there was one factor they missed. It seems Terrance was pregnant. And she laid dozens of eggs.

Terrance’s household has grown significantly.

Cameron Clifford

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Cameron Clifford

Terrance’s household has grown significantly.

Cameron Clifford

Now Clifford and Cal, with assist from a pal, are taking good care of greater than 20 tiny octopus infants, together with Terrance. They want around-the-clock care, and even then, Komatovich says, few are prone to survive.

“Only one or two of these would be expected to live into adulthood in an aquarium setting under perfect conditions,” she mentioned. “But that’s a lot of octopuses for one family to take care of.”

Terrance is doing nicely after launching her many offspring, however the Clifford household is not taking that with no consideration. Once a two-spot octopus lays her eggs, she sometimes will not stay for much longer.

The jury remains to be out on whether or not one in all Terrance’s infants will develop into a everlasting member of the Clifford family.

But come what could, Komatovich believes Cal has a vibrant future forward of him.

“I definitely see a future marine biologist right there. And it’s so exciting to see someone so young interested in cephalopods,” she mentioned.